Isn't it weird when a dream is so vivid that it seems real? & of all things to dream about... Brooklyn Dodgers, Yankees, Ricky & Fred??? It's not the kind of thing you'd expect yourself to dream about, like Lucy & Ethel & the California/movie stars' wives/designer gown episode... Maybe the old I Love Lucy writers are trying to channel a new story through you?

Since I am not you, I can not know what you feel. I can only at best offer my sympathy. I am a practical person and that colors the sdvice that I give. I lost my mother 10 years ago, but for me and my sister, it was not as traumatic as it could have been. My mother was 95 yr old and she had expressed that she was ready to go. Her life's work was done and it was time to move on. She had a circulatory problem and had blacked out and fallen a couple of times at home. She refused to let me take her to the doctor to explain her malady. (I lived 350 miles away and was visiting her.) She confided in me telling me that she had prayed for the Lord to take her away some night in her sleep. With that knowledge, her passing was easier for my sister and me. But the feeling of a loss of a loved one was there anyway. Years ago, we helped my mother through the loss of her husband. We, too, felt the loss. My experience says it is natural to have a grieving period that may last a year or more. What you feel is likely "Normal" for you and your circumstances. Those dreams is your mind working its way through a maze of thoughts. Do not be alarmed or distressed about those, but observe and learn. Please do not take on a load of guilt. The content of dreams can be quite ramdom, but someday, you may have a dream that resolves all issues and when you do, you will awake with relief. And then again with time, the issues that trouble you may merely fade to insignificant specks. This is a vulnerable time for you, so delay making decisions on your mother's estate for items that can wait. The best thing you can do for yourself is to give you psyche time to heal.

heh, i have the one where i've left the soap on the burner for hours and i wake up with a jolt to see if i burned the house down. oh wait, that wasn't a dream, that was the other week where i got sidetracked, started playing on the computer and left the soap on the burner for over an hour and a half! doh. =)

Yesterday I filled out my visa application on-line (as required by the Consulate), and it took about an hour. They require you to scan and upload a 2"x2" passport type photo (and I had to get a new one made) that is less than 6 months old, and this must be uploaded to the application, along with a scanned signature, plus a scan of your passport and airline ticket. The last two are optional, but I included them anyway. I had to reinstall my scanner in order to do this, and it took me a while to get it working properly. They also ask for all of your names and names of your parents. My birth certificate name is different from my passport name, and so I had to include both. Next I will have to make an appointment with the Consulate in Beverly Hills, and they are open only two hours a day. I also have to glue a copy of the 2"x2" photo to my application, and we are going to get some rubber cement for that, which we currently do not have. We also have to get U.S. postal money orders for $160 for each application - no other type of payment is accepted. The reason for this price is retribution for the price that the U.S. charges Brazilian citizens. I think there will also be an exit fee when we try to leave Brazil, like the $20 we had to pay to leave Costa Rica, and I will need to find out what that will be ahead of time. We're going in the "off" season, and so I haven't made hotel reservations yet, but there should be plenty of options. However, some hotels are closed in June, due to lack of activity.